This is page numbers 5127 - 5158 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was communities.

Topics

The House met at 1:41 p.m.

---Prayer

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. We welcome our guests in the gallery today. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have often spoken about the importance of making careful change within the Health and Social Services system. Our 2009-2012 Action Plan: A Foundation for Change provides the foundation for this careful change.

Mr. Speaker, I launched A Foundation for Change a year ago and I’m very pleased with the update I’m able to provide you with today. The Health and Social Services system has remained very committed to this plan and with very few exceptions we are either on track or ahead of schedule.

The plan is divided into three main goals: wellness - that communities, families and individuals make healthy choices and are protected from disease; accessibility - that people get the care they need and know where and how to find it; and sustainability - that resources are used effectively and innovatively to ensure the health care system will be sustained for future generations.

We have provided quarterly reports on our work to date on the Health and Social Services website and at www.foundationforchange.ca. I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight a few of our successes.

Under the goal of wellness, we have been successful in making a number of small but important changes in improving services for children in care. Adoption workers have received updated standards and training so they can better help NWT families through this life-changing process. The Foster Family Coalition of the NWT has worked with us to deliver new training to

families in Fort Liard, the Beaufort-Delta and Yellowknife.

Also under wellness, we continue to provide funding and education around a number of important healthy choices. Within A Foundation for Change, this has included health promotion funding approved for over 30 community-based programs in the last year that promote positive personal choices like healthy eating, physical activity and being tobacco free. In Tulita, A Fun in the Sun program supported early childhood and family development last summer. In Inuvik, youth gathered to talk about the importance of staying tobacco free at a locally organized conference. In Fort Smith, residents joined together to talk about losing weight and getting active. New projects to be funded for the next few months include a young leaders’ program in Nahanni Butte, a floor hockey program in Inuvik and a breastfeeding project that will share stories from across the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, the wellness goal of A Foundation for Change has also included education and vaccination programs against the spread of H1N1, a challenge that NWT health care professionals met as a unified and well-coordinated force.

One of the areas I’m most proud of is the work we’ve done around accessibility. Through funding from the non-profit organization Canada Health Infoway, we have been able to stay on target with our electronic health implementation activities and have rolled out new telehealth systems, digital imaging, picture archiving and communications and Health Net. While we have a long way to go in this area, we are already hearing success stories from across the Northwest Territories. Many of these stories revolve around the theme of reduced travel and wait times and increased accuracy of diagnosis and quality of care.

In terms of sustainability, our greatest success has been in the work that has been done with our board chairs and CEOs working together as a system to meet our challenges. Health and Social Services authorities and senior managers at the department are exploring options to address the challenges as a system and, in doing so, are improving the quality of decision-making and information available in the NWT Health and Social Services.

A Foundation for Change is a three-year plan. We have a lot of hard work still ahead and challenging decisions to make but we are on track. I would like to thank our staff, authorities, the Joint Leadership Committee, the Members of this Assembly, and our many partners in the support of this action plan to date and for their ongoing commitment to this work.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, as a major participant in the Northwest Territories economy, the Government of the Northwest Territories has had a longstanding policy commitment to encourage and support the development of a healthy private sector. That commitment is reflected in the Business Incentive Policy, which is the Government of the Northwest Territories preferential procurement policy.

I am pleased to report that the Government of the Northwest Territories has revised the Business Incentive Policy after two years of consultations with Members of the Legislative Assembly, the Northwest Territories business community, aboriginal governments and other interested parties. The revised Business Incentive Policy will come into effect on November 1, 2010, across all Government of the Northwest Territories departments and applicable public agencies.

This is another significant achievement for this government. It is significant because it strengthens the Business Incentive Policy, which will benefit our communities and our Northwest Territories resident businesses.

During consultations to revise the Business Incentive Policy, stakeholders were clear about the concerns that they had with the Business Incentive Policy. We heard communities were concerned that the Business Incentive Policy undermined their authority over government funding they received for operations. We heard there was a need to increase competition on major capital projects. We heard more support was needed for Northwest Territories resident-owned small to medium-sized businesses.

I believe the revised Business Incentive Policy addresses those concerns. Revisions have been made to the scope, tender adjustment, and non-resident eligibility criteria. The format for the policy has also been changed to make it consistent with other current Government of the Northwest Territories policies. These revisions are designed to result in a better Business Incentive Policy, one that ensures benefits for Northwest Territories residents are maximized and one that provides all communities with opportunities and choices while

also ensuring the best value on government procurement.

Government of the Northwest Territories procurement dollars have a positive impact on a competitive Northwest Territories economy. In 2009-2010, 85 percent of government contracts by value, $217 million, have been awarded to Northwest Territories-based companies. With the revised Business Incentive Policy in place, this positive impact will continue and will be enhanced.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. On October 17th to 19th in Yellowknife,

Aurora College is hosting the Association of Community Colleges symposium on Serving Aboriginal Learners in Rural and Remote Communities. This event is an opportunity for aboriginal leaders, college educators, government officials and industry representatives to discuss strategy and best practice in aboriginal education at the college level.

Hosting a national conference with a focus on aboriginal learners is an honour for Aurora College. This unique conference attracts participants from smaller institutions with an aboriginal student population whose challenges and goals are similar to ours. Aurora College serves a population of over 650 full-time students at three regional campuses, with numerous other students taking courses through one of the 25 community learning centres. Most Aurora College students are aboriginal -- Dene, Metis, and Inuvialuit -- and many are from small and remote communities. Our jurisdiction has much to share with our colleagues from across the country.

Mr. Speaker, Aurora College is ideally suited to host this event. The college delivers a wide range of programs and courses as close to communities as possible. Staff at regional campuses, community learning centres and the Aurora Research Institute focus on student success, aboriginal perspectives, traditional knowledge and programming, and excellence in teaching and research. Aurora College now has more than 40 years’ experience in serving the aboriginal learners in rural and remote communities.

Many Northerners are speaking, presenting papers, facilitating panel discussions and attending this conference, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the participants at the beginning of the conference. A respected Fort Providence elder, Margaret Thom, is also present.

Margaret Thom is an elder and a member of the Aurora College Board of Governors and she is a moderator for discussion on community-based programming and support services.

Mr. Speaker, other discussion topics at the conference include:

attracting, preparing and retaining aboriginal

low-literacy learners;

funding for community-based programming;

aboriginal support services;

best practices in community-based programming;

embedding traditional knowledge in college;

taking actions for First Nations post-secondary education;

college-industry partnerships; and

best practices in partnerships to support

aboriginal community development.

The conference also includes cultural ceremonies and events, including a feast and drum dance in Dettah, hosted by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.

Mr. Speaker, the Association of Canadian Community Colleges symposium is an exciting event that provides participants with a chance to share their best programs and practices while learning from the knowledge and experience of others. It is also a wonderful opportunity for participants to see what the Northwest Territories and Aurora College have to offer. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3 Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the K’asho Gotine Dene of Fort Good Hope and the K’asho Gotine Dene of Colville Lake, which are the Dene and Metis of the Sahtu land claim, hold fee-simple title to approximately 13,000 square kilometres of land within the Sahtu Settlement Area with the Northwest Territories. The K’asho Gotine Dene negotiated the Minister’s access and benefits agreements with the proposed development with the K’asho Gotine district of the Sahtu Settlement Area.

Mr. Speaker, the draft proposed AIP suggests that the Government of the Northwest Territories would be assigned law-making authorities regarding the land and resources on Crown lands within the

K’asho Gotine Dene district, but not extending to fee-simple lands. Additionally, the proposed draft AIP has designed a method of how resource royalties will be shared between the federal government, the territorial government and the K’asho Gotine Dene as any other landowners in the Northwest Territories. As the K’asho Gotine Dene of Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake are moving towards a self-government agreement and in the self-government process, our government must assure a share of resource royalties in jurisdictions and preservation of the constitutional rights as defined in Treaty 11, in 1921, and in Section 35.(1) of the Constitutional Act of 1982, are held in the manner and the spirit and intent of these historical agreements that were agreed to in the past.

No more broken promises, Mr. Speaker. It is in the opinion of the K’asho Gotine Dene that the bilateral agreement negotiated between the GNWT and Canada without the participation of the K’asho Gotine Dene will seriously impact progress of the current self-government process. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs at the appropriate time.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Small communities all over this country are benefiting from a wide range of economic development opportunities due to advances in technology. For example, entering data for the Department of Health and Social Services, graphic design with ECE, and GIS work with ENR can be all done in the small, remote communities by Northerners.

Recently I received a response from the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, the Honourable Bob McLeod, committing to reviewing all of these opportunities in small, remote communities. Mr. Speaker, I challenge the Minister and the government to develop real options and concrete plans so we can deliver all of these opportunities to the people, to our residents before the end of this Assembly.

With the establishment of these services all across the North, infrastructure capacity will follow, providing more opportunities to government who will get... We have to get serious as a government, Mr. Speaker, and invest in our small communities. Why should private industry...

As I expressed last spring, Nunakput communities go through every year people having to leave the community to places like Inuvik and Yellowknife to get... The primary reason it occurs is lack of real jobs, Mr. Speaker. The opportunities for the North

for our home communities are going to be a serious problem in our future. The communities are going to be a place where people most go home for holidays in the summer. Will our communities be empty for our youth? This government needs to get active to assist the communities and get serious programs and real jobs created so our residents don’t have to leave our communities.

The unemployment situation in communities is a serious issue that this government almost failed on. The lack of opportunities, the lack of hope for our youth in Nunakput communities is an area the government has failed to work on. This government needs to place more attention and resources in small, remote communities. Community-based economic development programs, these resources should be an area such as assistance for community-based business development.

All over the country, companies are improving. The geographic limitations are no longer obstacles, thanks to increasing technologies. People work from home in other provinces. For example, with current technologies, small communities all over the Northwest Territories, such as Sachs Harbour, like I said last year, could be a call centre, Mr. Speaker. This government should...

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Mr. Jacobson, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Mr. Speaker, for example, with current technologies, communities all over the Northwest Territories, such as Sachs Harbour, could be a call centre. This government should take advantage of these technologies to assist in development of our community-based businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided]

...NWT where all the communities have employment rates below 40 percent. Tu Nedhe is one of them. The average employment rate in both communities of Tu Nedhe is 37 percent. Mr. Speaker, this government must clearly understand that setting goals to increasing employment rates in smaller communities will ultimately make the whole Territory more prosperous. As we know, the large communities in the NWT are functioning well, with employment rates at 65 to 80 percent.

Mr. Speaker, the small communities employment rates were at 50 to 60 percent. It would decrease the cost to the government on items such as income support, health care, home repairs, child protection and overall wellness of the people.

Mr. Speaker, this government must develop an action plan that increases employment rates in our smaller communities. In some of our larger communities, an average of four of five people over the age of 15 get up in the morning and go to a full-time job. This is very positive for the economy in those communities.

Mr. Speaker, in the small communities, we are lucky if one person in a household had a full-time job. Most of the employment numbers are made up of part-time, short-time and seasonal jobs. Even students have no work. Mr. Speaker, while the kids in the larger communities are working all summer for the government or private industry, kids in the small communities are walking about looking for opportunities and wondering why there are none available. Mr. Speaker, we all know too well that low employment rates in smaller communities such as Lutselk’e and Fort Resolution have a negative, rippling effect throughout the community, particularly with the family’s ability to make a living.

Mr. Speaker, according to the 2000 United Nations urban development report, Canada has the fifth best standard of living in the world. However, if you take only aboriginal people in Canada, the standard of living is equivalent to 69th in the world, which is

right behind Peru, and that must change.

Mr. Speaker, today I’ll have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on what has to be done or what should be done to address this serious issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak today about devolution and resource revenue sharing. For the past 30 years governments in our Territory have been pursuing an agreement on devolving responsibilities from the federal government and getting a fair share of resource revenue. Mr. Speaker, the AIP that has been negotiated between the federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories is historic and now more than ever we will need our partners, the aboriginal governments in this Territory, to get on board with us in building a better Territory for all of our residents.

Mr. Speaker, for too long we have watched governments in Ottawa that took great pleasure in

watching us fight amongst ourselves, who enjoyed making decisions for us in Ottawa, all the while siphoning off resource royalties into federal coffers.

The Conservative government, even though we do not have a Conservative Member of Parliament, have made significant investment in our communities, in our people and in our future. Finally we have a partner in Ottawa that wants only the best for the Northwest Territories. They listen and they care. Former INAC Minister Chuck Strahl, current INAC Minister John Duncan, John Baird, Jim Prentice, Leona Aglukkaq and Prime Minister Harper are paying attention to the North, to our aspirations and to our dreams as a Territory. This federal government fully believes in the true north strong and free. They have stated this many times for all Canadians to hear.

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, actions speak louder than words. The federal government is ready to act, ready to let us make decisions for ourselves, set our own agenda, to share in the resource royalties derived from the extraction of our vast resource wealth and, Mr. Speaker, this agreement will be the cornerstone of our future as a government. There will always be a public government in the Northwest Territories to serve the needs and desires of all of our residents and no matter how this public government evolves in our Territory, this agreement will be a solid foundation for the future.

We need to support our Premier and our government’s efforts in moving this AIP along. Leadership will be tested, lines may be drawn, but we must continue with great resolve and vigour to pursue our partners across this great Territory to deliver on this opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Again, I would like to thank Premier Roland and his government for getting us to where we’re at today. Again, Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories is very fortunate to have some strong friends in Ottawa who I know have helped pave the way towards this AIP: Senator Dennis Patterson from Nunavut, former Premier George Braden, former Minister Bruce McLaughlin, and Minister Leona Aglukkaq. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’ll be talking about the Yellowknife Association for Community Living’s respite program and the support it provides to residents of Yellowknife.

Last night I had the honour of attending a YACL family networking meeting. This meeting is a regular meeting of families who have children and adults with intellectual challenges. Parents met last night to discuss the respite funding cuts and the impact it would have on their families. It was a powerful meeting, Mr. Speaker.

Today I would like to tell you about the respite program. The program has been in effect since 2002. Approximately 30 families access this service on a weekly basis. The goal of the respite service is to provide safe, individualized and flexible support to families and primary caregivers who are responsible for the full-time care of children and adults with intellectual challenges. It also provides individuals with these challenges the opportunity for inclusion in their community. Without this service, many families would be unable to do small but important daily tasks that are required to manage a family, such as grocery shop, pay bills, clean their houses, attend meetings, et cetera.

On September 13, 2010, Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority informed the association that they would not receive funding beyond March 31, 2011. The authority informed the association that the Territorial Health Access Fund through the federal government would not be renewed and, therefore, the authority would not have the funds for the program.

On Thursday, October 14th , the federal Minister of

Health released a statement that the fund would be provided to the GNWT until March 31, 2012. However, when the authority and the department were approached by YACL with this information, they were told that this funding for the respite services would not be renewed for the 2011-2012 year. This is a travesty and for the families that attended this meeting last night, many are unsure about how they will be able to cope without this service.

We are not talking about a lot of money here. YACL is asking for around $250,000. Surely this is a small enough amount that it can be found within the department’s budget.

Later today I will have some questions for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services on this issue.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Prior to discussing the issue on devolution yesterday, there was a press release that was released yesterday afternoon from the Gwich’in Tribal Council that

clearly identifies that they are not supportive of the draft Northwest Territories devolution agreement. Also in the media release was a response to a letter that was written to the Premier back on April 19th which outlined a bunch of items that they’d like the Premier to discuss with them on how the division of powers was going to be looked at, looking at how the sharing of resources and revenues was going to be properly there to address the aboriginal issues, and, more importantly, looking at an agreement that clearly identifies the ability for aboriginal groups to use those resources on items they feel fit.

The most important item is dealing with the future role of aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories, in particular when it comes to negotiating policies and procedures and also an agreement that clearly identifies how aboriginal lands and Crown lands are going to be managed in the future.

We talk about formulating partnerships with aboriginal governments, government-to-government discussions. Yet again the wool has been pulled over the eyes of the aboriginal leaders in the Northwest Territories by having the Government of the Northwest Territories negotiate directly with the federal government without having aboriginal involvement at the negotiating table actually negotiating these items with the federal government so that we do have an agreement that deals with these outstanding issues and has the best interest of the people of the Northwest Territories at hand. Having an agreement simply for the sake of having an agreement is not the way to go. We have to have the best agreement we can for all parties, whether it’s aboriginal or non-aboriginal, and for the people of the Northwest Territories.

These are issues that have been raised. There are other discussions going on with other First Nations. My colleague from the Sahtu clearly stated that the Sahtu also has questions on this matter. Without having full involvement of aboriginal groups at the table, we will not achieve an agreement that meets the needs of all the people in the Northwest Territories.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

NWTHC Program Guidelines
Members’ Statements

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[Translation] It seems like it’s going to be a little hard for aboriginal people in the Nahendeh riding...[Translation ends]

…has managed to increase its available and public homeownership housing stock. This is very good news. Unfortunately, in regard to homeownership, there appears to be problems matching available homes with residents who can purchase them.

Residents are frustrated at the narrow programming guidelines of the Housing Corporation.

It seems that the people who have a decent income and can afford to buy and maintain a home are the ones who cannot access programming. These are the people that we should be allowing and encouraging to access our homeownership programs. We have so many issues with arrears that we should do what we can for people that are willing to pay.

There are also people who cannot get support for homeownership because their income is just below what is required by the guidelines. There should be some flexibility or adjustment for these good, hardworking people. These people will do better if housing is better. Affordable and suitable housing will benefit our families and, in turn, improve strength and quality in our communities.

The government has made a firm commitment to addressing the housing needs of the NWT residents. I encourage the NWT Housing Corporation to broaden our homeownership programs so that more residents can be able to access them.

NWTHC Program Guidelines
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to express my very grave concerns with a recent action by the Department of Health and Social Services also referenced by Mr. Abernethy. It’s over the cancellation of the respite care program run by the Yellowknife Association for Community Living, a local NGO.

The respite program provides much needed relief to 29 families in Yellowknife. Some of these families have moved to Yellowknife from other NWT communities to access services available here; services like specialized health care and the respite program.

What began as a very small pilot project in 2003 has grown into an essential service and it has been administered very successfully for the last five years by the Yellowknife Association for Community Living.

Now, as you know, a few months ago the association was told that as of the end of March 2011 all funding for the respite program would be cut.

What are these 29 families expected to do then? There is no other option for respite. The association’s program is it, and parents are justifiably concerned. The support they derive from the respite program impacts their lives in a very

positive way and they fear losing the serenity just a few hours a week of respite brings to them.

We’ve just finished reviewing GNWT business plans for budget year 2011-2012. The Department of Health and Social Services plan was reviewed in detail by the Social Programs committee, of which I am a member. At no time during our review of that business plan did we hear anything about changes to the respite program. In fact, the business plan suggests that the respite program will be expanded in 2011-2012.

Since I learned of the cancellation of this program I have tried to get confirmation of that business plan information from the Minister and the department. So far I have been advised that there is no change to funding for respite services. In fact, they’ve confirmed that a strategic initiative, an increase of $75,000 for the respite program for 2011-2012, is correct. But the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority who receives funding from the GNWT for this program has advised that funding ceases in 2011.

What’s really going on here? The Minister and the department tell me one thing and then the Health and Social Services Authority contradicts that information. I can’t get a clear answer about this funding cut and, once again, it’s a case of the right hand of the Health and Social Services department not knowing what the left hand is doing.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I speak today on a key concern with the land and resources devolution agreement-in-principle, its development to date, and the essential steps that must guide the completion of this work.

As proposed, devolution means taking the exact same federal resource management and regulatory regime and moving it across the street as is. Yet Northerners have been clear that the federal regime is inadequate and unrepresentative. It is not based on principles of sustainable development and lacks a full set of socio-economic and environmental tools for integrated resource management that we demand.

This agreement puts in place a system lacking our own NWT stamp of improvements and standards. As currently conceived in the AIP, we will not begin the process of improvement until after the final agreement. Upon devolution, this government will be swamped by huge new responsibilities and battling to keep ahead of the learning curve while taking care of business. Contemplating new law will be unrealistic. If we’re going to fix this system, the

time to do it is beforehand. The resource management regime we put in place must be based upon broad, inclusive and comprehensive consultations with First Nations, stakeholders and the public at large.

What is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development in the eyes of Northerners? We can’t sign off on dollars until we know what an NWT management regime and the consultation and legislation to develop it is going to cost, and what the feds must pay.

Northerners need an AIP that ensures this will take place before, not after we assume these responsibilities. Adopting mirror legislation is simply not good enough. At a minimum, the final agreement must provide for the fact that new legislation will be made-in-NWT law, with supporting programs and necessary dollars attached.

The recent interim government response to the JRP report demonstrates that sustainability principles and firm law are crucial. The IGR provides people with no confidence that this government has the maturity and commitment to sustainable development that must be the basis of our future resource management regime, although I note that there is time for that.

Why, while negotiations of this AIP are underway, did the Premier focus on vague and costly public consultations on our political future when we should have been discussing crucial questions?

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Why were we out discussing vague consultation on our political future when we should have been asking crucial questions like when devolution comes, what law should we put in place? Some of us were raising this question and it makes me wonder if we are now where Canada was in requesting a seat at the UN Security Council. Do we lack the maturity and track record to qualify? I sincerely hope that is not true, that we do qualify, and I will be participating in discussions and looking for the Premier’s action to remedy this major flaw towards responsible devolution.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

NWT Tourism Facilities
Members’ Statements

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take Members on a little virtual tour upon entering the Northwest Territories at the Alberta border. You get to the border at the 60th Parallel. We still have our nice polar bear sign,

although I understand the new sign has no polar bear on it at all, just a compass. The old polar bear sign is still there. Then you come across our new tourist information booth, which we spent a lot of money on. And thank you for that, ITI and tourism, for that beautiful new facility there.

However, we have to have people manning that tourist information booth who are mature, knowledgeable, and very welcoming at the border, otherwise all the expense of buildings and infrastructure in the world is not going to make people feel welcome when they cross over the NWT border. Some teenager on a laptop computer on the Internet who looks like they’re annoyed to look up from what they’re doing when a tourist comes there is not acceptable, and that’s what we had for most of this summer. I had so many complaints from tourists who arrived in Hay River.

We want people who say, “Hello. How are you? Where are you coming from? Why are you coming here? What do you want to see? What do you want to do? And here’s all the information.” That’s the kind of thing we need. We have had them in the past. They are available. They are out there. That was not the case this summer. We have a beautiful new facility that needs some work. I understand the Minister was down there and had a look at that and it has a ways to go.

So forward on, now we come to the waterfall signs. And actually one roadside stop too. Mr. McLeod knows about this one roadside stop in this whole area. The waterfall signs, you’re on the waterfall route, which is very interesting. We have the attraction of the falls when you’re coming into the Northwest Territories. Beautiful, really worldclass kind of places to get to, and all summer long there are campgrounds associated with them. You can go in there, get firewood, rent a campground space, and it’s wonderful.

However, another problem. I don’t know... Most of you probably know Red McBryan. I think he’s 92 years old. I ran into him at a seniors’ gathering the other night. He is very upset. He drives back and forth to his farm at the border all the time and as of Labour Day weekend the gates are all closed. Now, I know the GNWT owns the campground and they own the infrastructure and they don’t want it vandalized, but may I suggest that the tourist season does not end on Labour Day weekend. It was a beautiful fall this year, beautiful weather, and many people continue down that road and when you first come upon them, you see a majorly large closed sign plastered on there.

NWT Tourism Facilities
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Mrs. Groenewegen, your time for your Member’s statement has expired. Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize some of the students that are here for the Aurora College Community Wellness Program. I’ll just highlight their names: Sharon Hopf, Yellowknife; Jennifer Jonasson, Lutselk'e; Gloria Hardisty, Wrigley; Trudy Kochon, Colville Lake; Jessica Field, Fort Providence; Gladys Edwards, Aklavik; Clara Sabourin, Hay River Reserve; Charlene Blake, Tsiigehtchic; Karen McLeod, Fort Liard; Lisa Judas, Wekweeti; Donald Yukon, Deline; Maria McSwain, Fort McPherson; and also their instructor, Carol Gregor, are here with us. Welcome. Mahsi.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s an honour to introduce His Worship Mr. Ray Ruben, the mayor of Paulatuk, and his daughters Bessie, Gloria and Rebecca. Thank you and welcome to the House.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the community health representative from Lutselk'e, Jennifer Jonasson. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s good to see so many people in the House today. I would like to welcome everybody. I want to welcome some of my constituents: Clara Sabourin from Hay River Reserve. It’s good to see her here. Thank you for coming. We also have, from my home town, Jessica Field, who has come to join us today. Thank you. And an old friend of mine, Jim Allard. Good to see you here, Jim. And of course, we can’t have enough McLeod’s in the House, so I’d like to welcome Karen here with us. Thank you for coming also.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize three constituents in the gallery. There’s Gladys Edwards from Aklavik, we don’t get many constituents here so… Charlene Blake from Tsiigehtchic and also Maria McSwain from Fort McPherson. I’d like to welcome you to the House. Mahsi.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a long-time friend and colleague, Donald Yukon. We went to high school together. Also a McLeod that my brother’s already beat me to the punch and recognized her. Welcome to the gallery.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize some of the Sahtu leadership, specifically the K’asho Gotine chief Arthur Tobac, Metis leader Jim Allard, the Yamoga Land Corporation president, Mr. Harvey Pierrot, and also Larry Hutchison, who is the advisor to the leadership there. I also want to recognize the Aurora College students Trudy Kochon from Colville Lake and Donald Yukon from Deline. I also am very happy to recognize an old school chum, Ray Ruben, a good hockey player from Paulatuk.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mr. Wilbert Antoine, a constituent from Fort Simpson. He’s working with Canadian Zinc. Also accompanying him is Mr. Chris Reid from Canadian Zinc as well.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Mr. Menicoche.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I still have more yet to do. I’d also like to recognize the hardworking community health rep, Ms. Gloria Hardisty, from Wrigley. As well, once in a while we get somebody who gets their name mentioned about three or four times, Ms. Karen McLeod of Fort Liard. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. If we’ve missed anybody in the gallery today, welcome to the House. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up with my topic of my Member’s statement and that’s the facilities that are operated by the Government of the Northwest Territories that are visitor and resident related; they’re used by many NWT residents and visitors alike.

Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of people like Mr. McBryan, who would like to know why the gate is closed on the access to Alexandra and Louise Falls and the Escarpment Creek by Labour Day weekend when there are still many people visiting and

coming into the North and people wanting to use these facilities, could I ask the Minister to please tell us why we do not have the resources or why we just cannot leave these facilities open to the public. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our tourism facilities and our parks are wonderful assets of this government and it’s usually some of the first impressions that visitors to the Northwest Territories see. Unfortunately, two years ago the tourism budget was cut and so the improvements that we were going to do to our facilities had to be rescheduled and we had to make do with the limited budgets that we had. The budget that was cut was never replenished, so we have to operate within a limited amount of resources. For our tourism season, we operate within the limited resources that we have to operate under. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we’ve had an unusually nice fall this fall, the nice warm weather. As a matter of fact, I think there isn’t any snow in Hay River today, and even going a little further south towards the border, I think it’s been 10 and 12 and even 15 degrees recently. Mr. Speaker, the reason that the Minister gives that the program for the facilities there cannot be expanded because of limited resources, what is it that does not allow or precludes the GNWT, ITI, from just leaving the gates to those facilities open so that people can enjoy them whether they are staffed or not? Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

We have had a lot of discussion with our clientele, what visitors and campers and people who come to enjoy nature, what their expectations are when they come to utilize a tourism park or facility, and they want to make sure that we have clean facilities, that they have an ability to enjoy nature and the environment, and we cannot do that if we just leave the parks wide open and have no control and no monitoring. We’ve come to learn that we have to have some control in order to make sure that we maintain our facilities and that the people who use the parks can enjoy the facilities. Thank you.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

I agree with Minister McLeod that when we do have people come there, we want everything to look good and we want things to be tidy and clean, we don’t want the places to be vandalized or look unkempt. Our territorial park facilities, which include the facilities around the falls and Escarpment Creek, are open from May long weekend to Labour Day weekend. How much would it cost this government to extend that into a shoulder season of, say, Easter weekend

to Thanksgiving weekend? How much money are we talking about? Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I guess it would depend on whether we’re talking for all the parks in the Northwest Territories or are we just talking about the three that are between Enterprise and the border. If we are talking about the three, then it would be a matter of paying the wages of probably about three or four people and also some contractors. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not to be unkind where there are other parks, but we are the southern part of the Northwest Territories and obviously have, usually, the weather on our side for the greatest amount of time. I don’t need to compare it to the campground in Inuvik, for example. Geographically, we do have a few things going for us in the South Slave. One of them is a longer warm season for those parks, the three parks that Mr. McLeod refers to. I would ask the Minister if he would undertake to get a costing for us on what it would cost to expand that into the shoulder seasons a little bit so that people could enjoy those beautiful facilities that we are so blessed to have. Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I would be pleased to do that, because one of the things in tourism and parks that we like to do is we like to see people using and enjoying our facilities. We will be pleased to come up with a number and maybe even amend our business plan, if that was at all possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and are related to the respite program. It is delivered at the Yellowknife Association of Community Living. The association has received a letter from Yellowknife Health and Social Services saying that their funding for the 2011-12 fiscal year has been cancelled; therefore, there will be no respite program at this association. I was wondering if I could get the Minister to tell me if we could get that money reinstated to continue that program on for a longer period of time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a program that Yellowknife Health has been funding the Association of Community Living. I believe in talking to the authority, they wanted to engage YACL so that they could have discussions on how to go forward in light of the fact that the funding will expire at the end of 2011. I think we should give them time to discuss and look at options. I believe that is what they are doing. Thank you.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, I saw the letter that was sent. It says, congratulations, you have no money. There is no funding for 2011-12, so I am not sure what discussions could be had, based on the fact that they have cancelled the funding. What I am asking the Minister to do is work with her department and see if she could find the $250,000 it will take to run this incredibly important program for these families in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Member that this is an important program. This is not the matter of debate. The program was a pilot project. The funding was time limited. The Yellowknife Health Authority is being responsive and responsible in letting them know so that they could engage, and they are talking about all options that are available to assist the families. I understand that the executive director and the authorities are willing to discuss all options with the authority, and we should give them a chance to do that.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, I understand that there was some time limit on this and that this was a pilot study. This was also tied to the THAF funding which was originally cut and there wasn’t going to be any of it for this year, but the THAF funding has been extended for this year and next year. I am curious why it was tied to that funding originally. Why would we only extend this program for one year when we have the THAF funding for two years? Why are we differentiating between these programs and cutting off at 2010-11 when we have money until 2011-12?

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, the Member and the Members across have an input. We have a consensus system of government here where we see all of the details of these funding mechanisms.

THAF funding was for five years and it was to expire in March of this year. We were able to extend the program with the federal government, which we appreciate very much. The federal government is supporting us in a big way. But the new funding program or package is not identical to the first THAF. It is an extension and it has a specific criterion that has earmarked all of the money that they are funding. The extension of THAF, which is now called THSSI, does not provide for the respite care program. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Which begs a question: Why we are able to fund it for 2010-11 and not 2011-12 if it is the same funding?

My question goes to THAF and planning within the department. We all know that the THAF money was intended to be an opportunity to explore some of these other areas of health care and that we were supposed to do some transition planning on how we are going to fund these programs, especially the programs that work, in the future. This is one that worked. This is one that had value, yet I don’t seem to recognize or see any evidence that the authority and the department did the planning for the longevity of these programs. I think we have a responsibility here to continue to deliver this program. So once again I go back to the Minister and ask her to commit to finding the funding to continue this program on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, I will be coming forward to the Standing Committee on Social Programs on details of THSSI funding that we had received. We are just finalizing that and transitioning, Mr. Speaker, but that does not mean finding ways to extend the program. We need to understand very clearly that THAF and THSSI funding will expire at the end of 2012. We need to come up with an exit program. Transition does not mean finding ways to extend, it means exiting. I will be coming forward as a supp to deal with THSSI. I will be putting forward a proposal to the committee members for everybody to review. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on the questions of my colleague Mr. Abernethy and direct them to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I am really confused even more so than I was prior to our statements. In an effort to bring some clarity to this issue and the funding for this program, I want to know from the Minister how we can have information from the Department of Health and Social Services which tells me that funding for this program in 2010-11 will be continued and next year into 2011-12, and that there will also be an increase in that programming. I would like to know from the Minister what is the funding in the business plan for 2011-12 for respite services. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure if that information is not before the House. We know -- and I want to be totally clear -- that having Yellowknife Health having advised YACL that this funding will not continue, that is public information. We need to address that, but I believe the information on business plan and the future budget issue is not something that we could discuss in detail.

For the benefit of the Members, Mr. Speaker, as I stated to MLA Abernethy, I will be coming forward to the Standing Committee on Social Programs on the detailed information about THSSI and I think we will have a chance there to talk about details of the program. We are doing that by way of a supplementary appropriation by the rule of the House. I am fully planning to come forward with a proposal and get full input from the Standing Committee on Social Programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for the commitment to bring us forward a plan. That is certainly something committee has been asking for, for quite a while. But there is still a huge confusion around this issue. The Minister has been telling me, through my inquiries, that there is no change to the respite programs for the next fiscal year. Yet, Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority has cut all funding for a program that presumably is continuing in 2011-12. I need to ask the Minister why am I getting different answers. Thank you.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, I think it would be very helpful when we have detailed discussion about THSSI funding and what is included, because we are subject to the rules and the funding that has been negotiated between the federal government and territorial government.

Like I stated before, the federal government has extended THAF as THSSI for us to transition and exit other programs. There are very, very specific criteria on how we should use that funding. So I will be bringing that forward to the standing committee. That just got finalized, the federal Minister just announced that. We’re just in the process of penning that agreement.

Mr. Speaker, on the issue of what is Yellowknife Health saying, Yellowknife Health has been in charge of administering this program and they also get money for other programs for THAF and THSSI and they have decided to engage YACL to tell them well in advance -- this is six months in advance -- YACL will have this program until the end of March. That is more notice than probably any other program such as this and we all want to work together to see what options there are.

There’s no real need to be confused or anything about that. All that information will be out there. There’s full opportunity for us to discuss. I think we will all benefit from having more information about

what THSSI funding includes and what they’re proposing for us to do with it, what qualifies, what doesn’t qualify. This is very important funding for everybody. It’s important for Members and the standing committee, Yellowknife Health and the department to work together. Thank you.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

I do agree with the Minister that it is important to discuss this, but I’m having a very difficult time. I believe this is a matter of poor communication or lack of communication. It would seem to me that this funding is coming from the department to the Health and Social Services Authority in Yellowknife and then to the programs that they happen to be running. I don’t understand why the specifics of the federal funding would change from the year ‘10-11 to the year ‘11-12, and that’s what I hear the Minister saying.

She also mentioned that, you know, a transitioning is not to be used for ways to extend programming. Well, if it’s a valuable program, I don’t understand, Mr. Speaker, why the Minister wouldn’t want to look at which programs are good and which are not.

In the business plans that we discussed, I would have assumed that we were discussing the budget for ‘11-12 and I would have hoped that we would have been advised about changes in programs. Why did the Minister not advise us of changes to this respite program when we discussed the business plan? Thank you.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

I have to agree with the Member that all of the programs that we fund under THAF are very valuable programs and the programs that we will be funding under THSSI are valuable too, and anything that we will not be able to continue because of the criteria and lack of funds, I need to let everybody know that THSSI funding is a lot less than THAF funding. So we will be faced with discontinuing and not being able to continue on with some programs. That’s why it’s important that we find time to discuss in detail what this transition means, and I totally respect the role that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has to play. We will be faced with looking at a good program versus another good program versus another better program, and these are tough choices we need to make.

The timing of Yellowknife Health Authority’s announcement is very unfortunate because we are not able to look at the full picture, and I want to commit to the members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs that I am going to come forward with the entire picture of what the THSSI renewal looks like, what it means. All of the authorities have been asked to look at what their budgets are and how they want to and how they are dealing with this transition. We need to work together on that and we could only do it when we have a full picture. I will be coming to the Standing

Committee on Social Programs as soon as possible. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the commitment for the full picture and I guess I have a difficult time understanding why we don’t already have the full picture when we are using some of this THSSI funding in this particular fiscal year.

Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister if she will commit to meet with the Yellowknife Association of Community Living to hear their concerns, to understand why it is they are so upset about the cancellation of this programming. Will she do that and when? Thank you.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Absolutely. I’d be happy to meet with the group. I was there when this respite program wasn’t there and it was one of the things that Standing Committee on Social Programs, that I used to sit on, are good for. I understand the value of this program. We have to look at this in the context of the financial pressures that we are in. I want to say again to the Members and the families and the authority and YACL and everybody out there, that I am committed to looking at everything we possibly can to see and look at all options possible. We need to work together to finance this. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier in regard to a letter that was written to the Premier back on April 19th ,

some six months ago, from the president of the Gwich’in Tribal Council outlining concerns that they’ve had in regard to the devolution process and elements that they feel are critical to making sure that the agreements that we do negotiate for devolution include some of these aspects, regardless of division of powers and responsibilities. We’re looking at the distribution of revenues in regard to how the existing different agreements reflect the population of a specific area and also the effects that resource development has in certain parts of the Territories where those resources are coming from.

Mr. Speaker, I think it’s important that we do everything we can to accommodate those organizations and groups to ensure that we get them on side. I’d just like to ask the Premier, have you received the letter and when are you intending to respond to this letter. From my understanding, there hasn’t been a response to date. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The letter has been received and we felt we were going to address that through our regional leaders meetings and some side meetings that we’d have there. With the recent release that has come out, we will put it instead in a formal response back to the president of the Gwich’in Tribal Council.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

In the letter there are several items, six items which were part of the media release that came out yesterday. I’d like to ask the Premier, has your department taken into consideration these six elements that were in the letter in regard to the negotiation of the devolution process and were they even brought to the negotiating table.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

The process, the questions that were raised in there at one time or another have been discussed and some of these are the fact that they will fall into the bilateral discussions we will have government to government between the GNWT and aboriginal governments. So that’s the process that it would fall under and it would be addressed through that manner. Thank you.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Also in the letter it refers to the Yukon devolution process and how the devolution experience in the Yukon has basically marginalized aboriginal people in the Yukon where they are no longer really involved in the decision-making process and the effects of oil and gas development on their lands and where all the control seems to be with the Yukon government. So again, has the government looked in regard to the devolution process in the Yukon and how the indigenous people are affected by that devolution process so that we don’t adopt the same thing in the Northwest Territories and have the same results? Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

In fact, through this process we have looked closely at the Yukon agreement and that process, and have ensured and worked at the table with the aboriginal governments and representatives on ensuring that this process we’re involved with to a much greater extent involves aboriginal governments in the future of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the elements that they talk about in the agreement is the whole area of distribution of royalty wealth of which 25 percent is going to aboriginal organizations in the Northwest Territories. The other 75 percent is going to the Government of the Northwest Territories. Those governments represent 50 percent of the population of the Northwest Territories and they represent 27

communities. I’d like to know if we have looked at the possibility of seeing how this arrangement is being divvied up and will we consider reallocation of that formula so that it’s more transparent with regard to the people they serve and the communities they work out of.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. It’s starting to get into the contents of the AIP, which is a document that is not formally before the House. I will go to the Premier, but it is not necessary to answer that question. Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That does get into the AIP itself. We’re waiting for the response from the chief negotiators’ letter that went to the aboriginal governments and their representatives to provide a response that would see them continue in those discussions. As I was saying earlier, there is a process in that agreement that has bilaterals, and that subject matter would be discussed through those processes.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I spoke about the state of the playgrounds in Fort Simpson over the summer months. I just want to ask the Minister of Education some follow-up questions with regard to that.

When the janitorial staff got a similar deal to that of teachers where they got the summer months off, what plan was in place to maintain the school yards and facilities during the summer months?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Part of the plan is that the local school board, the school is responsible for the maintenance of the playground, in partnership with PWS. So we do provide funding, the general pot of funding to the school boards, and they’re distributed to the teaching staff and janitorial custodial work. Part of the custodial work is also some of the contract agreement they have, is cleaning out the school in the summer, in preparation for summer, and also upon their return they go through the school system and do an overall cleaning as well. That is part of the contract we have with the schools.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

In the case of Fort Simpson, at the start of the school year that certainly didn’t appear to be the case. I was just wondering, I did contact the Minister’s office as well as the Minister of Public Works on it and I’d just like to know what exactly happened. Have they reviewed what

occurred during the summer? Will they come up with a good plan for next summer?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

When the request came in from MLA Menicoche on concerns of the playground, we expeditiously followed up with PWS and had resources, staff members go into the community and clean up that area, along with the assistance of the school as well. There has been community contribution, as well, from the parents, which was greatly valued. At the same time, this issue that came up before, the community can play an important role in preventing vandalism and also littering issues in the community. We are working with PWS and my department with the schools to put up some cameras and fencing along that area. Those are in the works, and the camera I think is slated to go in and be completed by the end of October. That’s the goal we are working on.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I, too, commend the parents’ groups for the work that’s been done. Next coming summer, what exactly would be the plan in place? I know that Public Works and Services have a lot of priorities during the summer months as well. Is there any provision with the education boards or ministerial office for part-time summer work for somebody to maintain those grounds?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

We have across 33 community schools in all communities that deal with these particular issues. It is the principal in the schools and administration team that does that type of work through the custodial work. At the same time, I would encourage the MLA to also meet with the local school board to see what kind of planning is in place. They are fully aware of what’s happening here and there are plans in place for fencing and cameras for next year as well. We are doing what we can as the Department of Education along with Public Works. At the same time, the community plays an important role as well.

I again encourage the Member to meet with the local school board and find out the planning process from them.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I certainly have been working with the school boards as we progress with some type of plan for the school grounds.

Once again, is there any provision for extra funding or resources to help maintain the school grounds during the summer months?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

That provision would fall under the local school board and the divisional education council. We provide funding to them and they disperse the funding through their priorities. The decision lies with the local school board. If they feel there should be a need for a half-time or full-time position over the summer, it’s at

their discretion to allow that to happen. We’ll continue to work with the school boards.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to pick up where my colleagues Ms. Bisaro and Mr. Abernethy were asking questions on the respite program here in Yellowknife. We’re confused about where the funding has gone and how this has happened. If we’re confused, I can only imagine how the parents and families that utilize the respite service are feeling today.

I’d like to ask the Minister, we sat through the business plans. I’m not a member of the Social Programs committee, but I was there during the business plans. We also had a meeting with the authority shortly thereafter. Nobody said that the $250,000 was gone and the respite program was going to be cut come March 31st of next year. I’d

like to ask the Minister why that was omitted from the business plans and the meeting with the authority.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve been working with all the authorities to come up with a comprehensive plan on transitioning from THAF to THSSI, because the pot of money we’re getting from the feds is not the same, the criteria is not the same, the amount of money that we’re getting is not the same. It was important that we work with the authorities to come up with a plan; a plan so that we don’t work to cross purposes, that we do a full analysis of how we’re spending this money. It did come as a surprise to me that this letter went out and it was communicated in that way. I have a commitment from Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority that they will work with YACL and come up with a plan, and I am committed to working with Yellowknife and to make sure that we look at all possible options. That’s why it... I’ll just stop there. I’m sure he has a supplementary.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

I guess the bottom line for me was that the federal funding was set to expire in 2011-2012, yet there have been changes made to that funding and where that funding is going. I’m trying to follow that $250,000. Maybe the Minister could let me know and let this House know where exactly, if the $250,000 isn’t earmarked for the respite program next year, where exactly that $250,000 is going.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

That funding is multi-million dollars over five years. THSSI is a multi-million dollar proposal for the next two years. We have just finalized this. I’m not trying to confuse anybody or evade answers in any way. This is a complicated package of funding that we received from the federal government. This is why I’m making a commitment from the Members on the other side that I will come to them with the full proposal so that we can have the entire picture of what the new funding looks like and get an explanation of where respite care would have fit or should fit or doesn’t fit. We’re just working on that. I think we need to have the full information before we decide exactly what happened to that $200,000. Federal funding always comes with criteria and complicated rules and we need to have a full briefing on that.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

I understand that and I understand that there are rules in place for the utilization of federal dollars. If the rules were in place that allowed it to be spent on the respite program in one year, I’m just wondering how it could change to the next year.

The next question I’d have for the Minister -- and we all know concrete is very expensive; the department has entered down this road of a Foundation for Change -- is the money that was earmarked for the respite program going into the Foundation for Change and the cost to that.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

As I stated to the Member for Great Slave, one of the criteria for the new funding is for us to exit THAF funding. This new funding ends at the end of 2012. We fund doctors, we fund midwifery, we fund diagnostic imaging. We fund lots of other things under THAF right now and we’re finding ways to work out the details on how we spend THSSI funding. Part of transitioning means system change as well. This is why it’s important for us to get details on exactly what the federal government has asked us to do with THSSI, what we have agreed to do.

Once again, the respite care is a small program that’s vital to the people who have been receiving it. I think it’s incumbent on us to have a full discussion on that instead of just speaking about one program.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I still am quite confused, because you had a program that was working, you had funding that would have enabled it to continue to 2011-2012, yet the $250,000 is gone somewhere. You’re using it for something else and I’m not quite sure I understand what you’re using it for. Whose decision was it to cut the $250,000 out of the respite care program? Was it the department or was it the authority?

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Just two points on that. The first point, I will commit to get back to the Members

on how the accounting was done in terms of the comparison between BP and the new funding we’re getting, because we did just go through the BP process. There’s a program there, money for respite care, and we are bringing new money under THSSI under supplementary appropriations. So there are some accounting rules that we had to follow that I would get the Member the detail on.

The second part is, I want to tell the Member, and I’ve said it again, THSSI funding is a lot less than THAF. So we are going to see reductions in programs that we have paid under THAF. We have authorities that make decisions about how they spend money that they get from the department. All the authorities are working on plans. We were all to work together on those plans. It is unfortunate that an announcement was made about discontinuation of one program in one isolated way, and Yellowknife Health is working to address that. I am committed to working with Yellowknife Health. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I talked about the serious issues of low employment in the smaller communities and the need to address this issue. I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Recognizing that this is a government-wide issue, does the Minister agree that addressing the low employment rates in the small communities is the responsibility of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I do agree that ECE plays a role in addressing low employment rates across the Northwest Territories, but we have to keep in mind that we cannot do it alone as the GNWT. There have to be other partners, aboriginal partners, municipalities, and also industries in the communities and also individuals. So those are our partners that we continue to work with. Mahsi.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Speaker, I feel that this government should play a lead role. Can the Minister commit to developing a plan that addresses the issue of low employment rates in the smaller communities before the end of this government? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Speaker, we currently provide, through ECE, a number of programs into the smaller communities, the isolated

communities, so they can participate in the labour market in the Northwest Territories. We also are currently working on the Labour Market Development Framework that also involves consultation with the communities. This framework will help us to adapt to the new emergent economic and labour force challenges and opportunities. What the Member is referring to will be addressed in the framework itself, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Speaker, speaking in the short-term context, will the Minister commit to a comprehensive summer student program for this coming summer for rural and remote communities? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Speaker, at the ECE department we’ve launched a new program this fiscal year called Small Community Employment Support Program, and it has been very, very successful to date, Mr. Speaker. As of September 2010, a total of $223,400 was given to 27 employers, and 98 youth in 19 small and remote communities were hired. This program will be delivered on an ongoing basis and it has been beneficial to date. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we all know, low employment rates is a serious issue in small communities, a longstanding issue in the small communities. For some certainty, I would like to know if this Minister can commit to taking a lead with all these plans and strategies that are in place and providing information to this House as to the progress of those plans and strategies. Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Yes, Mr. Speaker, yes. ECE is already in the process of, again, developing the Labour Market Development Framework. That is the comprehensive work that we’ve been engaged in, and I encourage the Member to provide feedback. We will also provide feedback to the Member on our consultations with the stakeholders.

I would like to thank the Member and also the Members for their valuable contributions towards this important document and will continue to have ongoing discussion with the stakeholders.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier as Minister responsible for the Executive. My questions to the Premier follow up on yesterday’s statement and questions regarding the need for common sense

approaches to inconsistencies or even absurdities in program delivery.

The notion of an ombudsman has been raised frequently over the years, most recently yesterday. Many jurisdictions have established these positions as a court of higher appeal when horse sense doesn’t seem to prevail. Can the Premier tell me what knowledge he has of the consideration of creating an ombudsman and what the current view of the Executive is regarding the need for such an office? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we go through our process of budgeting and business plan development throughout departments and we go through a process of receiving feedback, we try to address the concerns that come up on areas of shortfall or requests for change in that planning, and we’d be prepared to do the same if Members and committees were to recommend some changes or development of new initiatives within our processes. The area of the ombudsman has not been a part of Executive’s business plan. I know it’s come up in discussion with a number of departments but, again, we haven’t had a formal response from committees in that area. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thanks to the Premier for those comments. I don’t think committee will be shy on bringing this forward when it’s due here, and that may be soon. But on the larger issue of program improvement, we need to determine what formal mechanisms exist for capturing our citizens’ or, in many cases, our clients’ suggestions and experiences for improved program delivery. An ombudsman is certainly one option to go. When citizens bring these instances to our attention, we are really being given a gift in terms of program evaluation.

The case of medical travel for students yesterday certainly demonstrated how sometimes program policies fly in the face of reason. The example also pointed out that although this lack of reason was brought forward in a case last year, another patient hit the same brick wall this year because no action was taken to learn from and fix the problem.

Can the Premier tell me what mechanisms are in place to collect information on instances of complaint and to capitalize on that information through straightforward analysis to identify problem areas and possible policy solutions? This information just seems too good to go to waste. Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

We do, indeed, want to receive feedback from the constituents of the Northwest Territories on our program delivery, whether it be medical travel, student financial

assistance, transportation, licensing and so on. There are so many areas we are involved in that, it is difficult to keep the pulse on all of it all the time. That’s why it’s important that we look at how we deliver that program or the many programs we’re involved with, and that is why, through our Strategic Initiative committee Refocusing Government, we’ve started a program so far, as well as Public Works and the Minister of Education’s office. I’d just like to ask again, for the review office to look at those areas where we see large growth in expenditures by government to see what type of results that that type of investment is producing. So there’s that side of it.

When it comes to reviewing complaints, that’s another side where we know that Members many times bring the… You’re the voice of the constituents when it comes to dealing with some of those issues up front and, of course, there are different times when we’re challenged in trying to come up with the appropriate response that sometimes doesn’t fit one case but fits in the general class. But in this area I think it is time, again, I say, with support from committee members on areas of addition and changes, that we could look into this area. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, everyone in this Assembly knows that health services and housing are probably the great majority of where these complaints are. But in my mind, an ombudsman is a good way to go. But it’s clear from the volume of policy-related complaints that we need to do something to fix this problem. So can the Premier commit to dealing with the volume of complaints in the health services and housing areas with explicit policy review and revision? Mahsi.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, as I have mentioned earlier during our process, the program review office, we have begun that task of looking at specific program areas. As we get through the initial work of that group, we will go to committee and ask for additional information where we can target certain areas as well. That is one of the avenues we could do that. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now that the issue has been extensively raised in this Assembly, can the Premier say what steps he will take to report to the Members on options for an ombudsman or some other formal mechanism for capturing complaints and learning from them? I know that the Premier mentioned hearing from committee, so that is an option to wait for that, but I am interested whether he will go forward without waiting. Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, at the chance of being chastised by Members for going ahead without putting the plan before them and

coming up with a funding source, that would be difficult. My preference is to wait for committees to respond and give us suggestions on our business plan process and we can go forward on that basis. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today was on economic development programs in the Nunakput. Mr. Speaker, my colleague Mr. Beaulieu has lack of jobs in our small, remote communities and people having to leave home to find work to feed their families. Mr. Speaker, will this government place more attention and resources in small, remote communities regarding community-based economic development programs to assist small businesses? These resources should assist areas such as providing community-based training and financial assistance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member for Nunakput raises a very good point. I know that I had the opportunity to meet with Senator Eggleton. We talked about how to deal with adding poverty and he had three recommendations. He said to deal with it, you had to have an anti-poverty strategy. You had to create jobs. For people that are disabled, he would have some sort of guaranteed income.

In my view, the best way to deal with anti-poverty is to create jobs. I think that, as a government, we are well on our way to creating jobs. We have to work in partnership with industry and also other levels of government. In Nunakput itself, we have worked at this for some time. Our objective as a government is to have development in every community of the Northwest Territories. In Nunakput, we created a subsidiary in Sachs Harbour, for the harvesting of musk-ox. In Ulukhaktok, we created a subsidiary for arts and crafts. We set up a business and also in Paulatuk, we expect a mining development to Darnley Bay. In Tuk, there has been work done on roads. So there have been some significant government investments, but we need to do more. We are prepared to work with the people of Nunakput to create more jobs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister for highlighting all of those, but we want more. There are no jobs going on with the offshore oil and gas being up in the air for... The holdback

on drilling for the offshore and the pipeline, we are still waiting for that. Delay, delay, delay. Hopefully we can get something done there.

Again, Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, I challenge the Minister of the government to develop options in a concrete plan so we can deliver these opportunities to the residents before this Assembly is over.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, we have done a lot of work in this area already but we are prepared to do even more. We committed at the Beaufort-Delta Regional Council that we would host a regional workshop with the members of the community in which we would look at opportunities. We would even look at setting out a plan as what we would need to go forward. We would even go as far as look at creating an inventory of possible jobs or opportunities that could be moved to some of the communities. I don’t know if we have call centres that could be moved or not, but we’re prepared to look at those types of opportunities. Thank you.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Will the government explore all current technologies in the needs of the Northwest Territories and try to find ways for small, remote communities all across the Territory that can assist and benefit? Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

In a Territory like ours where we have a large expanse and we have few people, I think we have to take advantage of technologies if we’re going to be able to reduce the cost of living and to create meaningful employment. We’re very prepared to do that as part of our meeting in holding a workshop with the Nunakput people. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The cost of living the Minister brings up, I mean that’s where as a government we should be pushing our all-weather road from Wrigley to Tuk, especially the part from Tuk to Inuvik off of 177. There’s a lot of good opportunities there, training programs that we could get from that and as a whole government we should be working toward getting the all-weather highway. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you. I don’t know if I heard a question there, but I’ll refer it to Mr. McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier and all of the Ministers on this side, we’ve said that the North has never received as much attention as we’re getting now and certainly we’ve always said that the best way to promote Arctic sovereignty is to have healthy sustainable communities, and that includes building highways and so on, and developing all the business opportunities such as oil and gas. So we are going to be working very hard as a government to ensure

that we do create jobs for remote communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been noted that the draft AIP has been posted on CBC for the whole public to take their own view and to have their own interpretation of the AIP. Mr. Speaker, I was meeting with the K’asho leadership in Colville Lake and Fort Good Hope and, Mr. Speaker, much to my surprise, they were in shock and awe in terms of the agreement. So I wanted to ask the Premier if he can advise the House as to who and when the decision was made to exclude the K’asho Gotine in the process of entering into bilateral negotiations with Canada.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There has been no decision on our part to exclude anyone. In fact, the process that we’ve entered into through the regional leaders table is to set up a regional leaders table specifically. So the Sahtu has been included. We don’t go to the Sahtu to say how they then work from the region down to their community levels, like we don’t do with the Gwich’in or the Inuvialuit or the Dehcho or any of the groups. We worked at that table to have the regional leaders bring their issues to the table.

This agreement that is out there has been worked on since 2001. We realize that much of the leadership changes from time to time. In this case, a letter has gone out by the chief negotiators to the regional leaders to seek their continued involvement in the next phase of discussions. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you. In terms of the participation in the negotiations, well, we could certainly have a long debate on that on the definition of participating and negotiating. What we see from this point is that Canada and the GNWT are excluding the aboriginal governments. I want to ask the Premier, can he advise how the GNWT has met its obligations to consult, as defined in the Sahtu claim under section 2.(a)(b)(c) that the Sahtu aboriginal governments in determining the fiscal formula in the AIP.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

The process that we’ve gone down, in fact, on the basis of the AIP started off fundamentally in 2001, has worked through, in fact, in the 15th Assembly, four groups signed on

with the government-of-the-day to forward that draft on to Canada and the Sahtu was included in that signing at that time. We, in the 16th Assembly, had

halted the process to start the regional leaders table to try to build a more common approach, and when the re-engagement happened with the federal government, there was a number of technical sessions and negotiations that were involved at the regional level process and the staff they had brought to the table.

So we’re, again, waiting for a response to the chief negotiators’ letters to the regional leaders seeking their continued involvement in this process. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Time for question period has expired; however, I’ll allow the Member a supplementary question. Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently the Sahtu Secretariat and Canada resolved a legal matter involving Canada’s obligations to consult with landowners when issuing prospecting permits in the Sahtu Settlement Area. Can the Premier advise if the GNWT has assessed the risk of single legal actions if the GNWT continues with the execution of the draft AIP?

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Once again, we are awaiting the response from the chief negotiators’ letter to the regional governments, aboriginal governments and organizations to seek their continued involvement in the final phase of negotiations. At that point there will be a decision as to whether there’s a go forward. So this is all hypothetical about what may or may not happen. We’re waiting and we’re honouring the process and waiting for the response of the regional organizations and governments. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier is correct in terms of how he’s waiting for the leadership from the Northwest Territories to determine a go or no go, or a deal or no deal. I want to ask the Premier about what I’ve been hearing from our leadership that doesn’t seem to have much support. What can we do in terms of making sure that we do have a strong, northern aboriginal leadership? We know we want this deal, but right now it seems like there’s not much support, from where I’m standing, about proceeding any further with this draft AIP.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

The draft AIP that’s been sent out to the aboriginal governments and organizations for their input has been done because the mandates of the chief negotiators have breached. It is up to the governments to decide what the next steps are and we’re in that process of making those decisions, waiting for the input of the aboriginal organizations and governments for their response to the chief negotiators’ letters. We’ll have to decide what the process is going forward from there, and when it comes to some of the issues that

I believe are outstanding are ones that I believe would be identified through the bilateral that would occur between the aboriginal governments and the GNWT. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 8, written questions. The honourable member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return back on the orders of the day to item 5.

---Unanimous consent granted

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery (Reversion)
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery (Reversion)

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the diamond in my eye, my beautiful wife, Cheryl. She’s up in the gallery and visiting us today. I love you, babe.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery (Reversion)
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery (Reversion)

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table two documents. One is the letter to the Premier from Richard Nerysoo, president of the Gwich’in Tribal Council; and the media release by the Gwich’in Tribal Council.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 15, notices of motion. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, October 21, 2010, I will

move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, October 21, 2010, it shall be adjourned until Monday, October 25, 2010;

And further, that any time prior to October 25, 2010, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Bill 12: An Act To Amend The Liquor Act
Second Reading of Bills

Inuvik Boot Lake

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Liquor Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Liquor Act to add a provision authorizing an inspector or a peace officer to seize and remove anything referred to in a warrant for the search of a dwelling-house. The use of force will not be permitted in searching a dwelling-house unless specifically authorized in the warrant. Minor amendments are also made to ensure consistency of terminology.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Bill 12 has had second reading and is referred to a standing committee.

---Carried

Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 4-16(5), Executive Summary of the Report of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project; Tabled Document 30-16(5), 2010 Review of Members’ Compensation and Benefits; Tabled Document 38-16(5), Supplementary Health Benefits – What We Heard; Tabled Document 62-16(5), Northwest Territories Water Stewardship Strategy; Tabled Document 66-16(5), NWT Capital Estimates 2011-2012; Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act; Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act; and Bill 9, An Act to Amend the Tourism Act, with Mr. Bromley in the chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. We have before us for consideration: Tabled Document 4-16(5), Tabled Document 30-16(5), Tabled Document 38-16(5), Tabled Document 62-16(5), Tabled Document 66-16(5), Bill 4, Bill 8, and Bill 9. What is the wish of committee? Mrs. Groenewegen.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee would like to continue with the consideration of the capital estimates and today we would like to proceed with Public Works and Services and, time permitting, we want to move on to Education, Culture and Employment.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. On that note, we’ll take a short break.

---SHORT RECESS

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you. I would like to call Committee of the Whole to order. We have before us today Tabled Document 66-16(5), NWT Capital Estimates 2011-2012. We are starting together with the Department of Public Works and Services. Is committee agreed?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

I’d like to ask the Minister if he would like to bring in witnesses. Mr. McLeod

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I’d like to bring in witnesses.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. I’d like to ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort the witnesses into the House.

If I could call on the Minister to introduce his witnesses.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me to my right is Mr. Paul Guy, the deputy minister of Public Works and Services; and I also have on my left Laurie Gault, director of Technology Service Centre.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Welcome, Mr. Guy, Ms. Gault. Committee, we have before us Public Works and Services, which starts on page 5-4 with asset management. Sorry, it starts with the summary on page 5-2, but we’re going to defer that until we’re completed the detail and start with asset management, which goes from page 5-3 through page 5-5. Financial summary, Public Works and Services, activity summary, asset management, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $12.527 million. Committee, on page 5-4, questions? Page 5-4, committee agree?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Next we have Technology Service Centre, which is from page 5-6 through page 5-8. Public Works and Services, activity summary, Technology Service Centre, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $1.3 million. Questions, committee? Mr. Yakeleya.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to ask the Minister about support for our agencies in the department within the government. In terms of electronic support and infrastructure, I know that there is some interest in electronic infrastructure for our health care operations in our small communities and with the whole accessing more infrastructure for our health centres. I’m not too sure if this is the place where I can ask about this in this department, if this department is heading up looking at putting in stronger infrastructure into our communities that require them, especially for our health centres and education in the schools, also.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Ms. Gault.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Gault

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We currently have several projects underway that we are looking to address both the Internet needs as well as the wide area network needs of particularly health and education. We have several pilot projects. One is the Internet Redirect, whereby we’ll be looking at alternate facilities to provide more bandwidth to our schools, and the other is to improve transmission to the satellite communities for TeleSpeech initiatives.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

The specific phrase on bandwidth support, I’m looking more in the future of increasing that to our health centres in the small communities where they are now starting to have more technology that would have electronic medical records and being more transparent in the health centres to the larger centres where these records are available. Right now I know we still operate with the paper system and I think if there’s some indication from this department on areas they’re going to look at in the health centre on the specific issue of supporting our communities with implementing a health records system and the bandwidth that would support it. I know we’re also in competition with the schools. How do we start ensuring that our small community health centres will also receive some support in terms of medical records being instantly produced in the health centres so we can get greater access to health care to our people?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Mr. Chairman, the question is not in relationship to the capital and it’s not reflected in this plan. However, we are looking at going out for a new DCN contract very shortly

and we’re also looking at ways to increase our bandwidth. That, of course, will allow for more medical traffic in records. We are investing in this budget in server hardware and looking at network infrastructure and data storage infrastructure, and that will help to integrate some of the systems. There’s a budget of $1.2 million to deal with those changes, those improvements.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Good observation. I’ll ask the Members to try and remember to keep our questions to capital items and save programming questions for later. Moving on, we have Mr. Beaulieu next. Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With committee’s indulgence, I’d like to ask questions on page 5-4 and 5-7. I didn’t have an opportunity to. I can proceed with that. I just wanted to ask the Minister a question relating to asset management on the deferred maintenance. I was wondering if the department is able to maintain their budget that will allow them to catch up with serious deferred maintenance items that are apparent in government buildings across the Territories. First question.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. I gather that we have gone back to page 5-4. Let me just seek committee approval to return to page 5-4. Is committee agreed?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you. The question stands. Mr. McLeod.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Mr. Chairman, the issue of infrastructure deficit and deferred maintenance is of concern right across Canada. We’ve worked with a number of jurisdictions to try to bring that to the attention of the federal government. Within our own budgets and our own initiatives, we’ve targeted deferred maintenance as a priority. Over the last few years we’ve managed to bring that number down by $145 million from a huge challenge with the infrastructure deficit. We’ll continue to do so over the next while. We have targeted some dollars for this coming year and we would expect the next governments to do the same as we work towards eliminating that infrastructure deficit or the deferred maintenance. However, it’s going to be long term. What is the number now? The number will be reduced down to $325 million by the end of this coming fiscal year.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you. Just one more question on that. Does the Minister anticipate that the government or departments will ever be able to catch up with deferred maintenance items?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

That is our goal, as a government, to reduce the deficit on deferred maintenance. We have done quite well over the last few years and this is as a result of having a very good capital budget across the departments and

replacing a lot of the infrastructure that was very old and could not be upgraded. We’ve also done a lot of upgrades to buildings that needed it and we were able to address it. But there is still a fairly large deficit budget in the area of deferred maintenance, and I think that every government that comes on stream is going to have to tackle this issue and it will be around for some time. But the goal is to reduce it down to zero. I’m not sure how long that’s going to take, but it’s going to require continued investment over many years.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Is the Minister able to tell me if there is capital carry-overs in the deferred maintenance area, previous years or either just the last year, and if there’s any anticipation due to the majority of the construction season ending for this fiscal year, if there are carry-overs in this area, deferred maintenance? Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

As the Member is aware, in the area of deferred maintenance we are certainly playing catch-up. The number for deferred maintenance was quite large. We’ve managed to reduce it by $145 million and we’ll always be working towards reducing it and trying to eliminate it. That might be difficult, of course.

Mr. Chairman, we’ve also managed to reduce our carry-overs from an historic amount of an average of about 35 percent down to 20 percent and some of those would have been in the area of deferred maintenance. I don’t know if we have that actual number at this point. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Chairman, I’m finished questions on page 5-4. I’d like to ask questions on page 5-7, if that’s okay with committee.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. What we’ll do is we’ll conclude page 5-4. Public Works and Services, activity summary, asset management, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $12.527 million.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Page 5-7. Mr. Beaulieu, go ahead.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m wondering if the department has looked at alternatives to adding time on to the evergreening of the technology for the purposes of saving capital dollars. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Ms. Gault.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Gault

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our studies that we continue to look at every year at our equipment lifecycle still support a four to five evergreening cycle. This is something we will continue to look at even more closely with our data centre. We may have to extend some of the older equipment a bit longer than currently, in order to

stay within a reasonable budget, but currently the studies indicate four to five years is still that average lifecycle. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Chairman, with the amount of electronic waste that’s being produced in the world, I was wondering if there has been smaller components technology that can be added to the current stuff which is, in essence, evergreening the other computers and so on without actually changing the entire component. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Gault

One of the areas we’ve moved to in recent years is increasing the use of what we call a virtual environment. Not only can we reuse existing services, which helps our departments and doesn’t incur additional investment, but also we get a lot more functionality out of those, extend the life. We also are looking at hardware reuse. We have smaller footprint. We also have cases where we actually have the fans will automatically turn on and off to make better use of the power in the data centre. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Ms. Gault. Committee, we are on page 5-7. Public Works and Services, activity summary, Technology Service Centre, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $1.300 million.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Next, we have petroleum products division, which ranges from 5-9 through pages 5-11. We’re on page 5-10, financial summary, petroleum products division, Public Works and Services, activity summary, petroleum products division, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $475, 000.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, committee. This concludes the detail. We turn now to page 5-2 for the departmental summary, Public Works and Services, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $14.302 million. Mr. Yakeleya.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to ask the Minister in terms of the infrastructure investment, in terms of all of our infrastructure and the amount of investment that we are putting in this capital plan here, in terms of the overall infrastructure with his department. What is the percentage number in terms of our investment? Are we at 10 percent? What percentage, if you have a percentage number? Ideally, we want to invest into our infrastructure, we want to invest, say, 100 percent; however, with the competing departments and dollars for infrastructure, we can only invest 10 percent of the total of this budget here. Where are we within DPW?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister McLeod.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m not sure if we are in a position today to provide an actual percentage of what we are needing in terms of our infrastructure needs. If we looked at it in terms of our five-year needs for all of the government across all of the departments, our needs would probably total up to about $2.5 billion.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Minister, I would ask if you would clarify that number for me, please.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

The number that I quoted for all our needs is around $2.5 billion or more, if we started including all the different needs from all the different departments for infrastructure, and that includes the Mackenzie Valley Highway and all the other pieces of infrastructure that have been identified as part of our needs.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Was there some mention of an under a five-year plan?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That would be on a five-year basis, yes. That would be a portion of the Mackenzie Valley Highway and other projects.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Yakeleya.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That’s quite a considerable amount of dollars here in terms of what the Minister has quoted on a five-year plan. I ask because of some of the infrastructure that’s desperately needed in our communities. We are hoping to see them come onto the capital plan in putting some good investment in there. I just wanted to thank the Minister for those numbers and the significance of the type of investment we need in the NWT in terms of our infrastructure within the GNWT.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

It looks like we are going back to the general discussion, but just as a point of clarity, I didn’t say the $2.5 billion was part of our plan, it’s part of our needs. That’s a little different from our plan. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Indeed, thank you, Minister. Anything further, Mr. Yakeleya?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

No, it’s okay.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. So once again, committee, we are on page 5-2, the departmental summary for Department of Public Works and Services, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $14.302 million. Committee agree?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that that

concludes the Department of Public Works and Services?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, committee. I also understand we also have the Department of Education, Culture and Employment before us. Mrs. Groenewegen, do you confirm that?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

I just wanted to find out, Mr. Chairman, what time is it now.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Four.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Oh, we’ve got lots of time. Yes, let’s proceed with Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. I’d like to thank the Minister of Public Works and Services. Thank you, Mr. McLeod, and thanks to your witnesses. Could I ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort the witnesses from the House.

I would like to ask the Minister of ECE if he would like to bring in witnesses today. Minister.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Yes, Mr. Chair, I would.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. May I ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort the new witnesses into the Chamber.

If I could ask Mr. Lafferty to please introduce your witness.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I have with me Mr. Dan Daniels, deputy minister of ECE. Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Minister. Welcome, Mr. Daniels. Committee, we have on page 8-2, the departmental summary and we’re going to defer that for Education, Culture and Employment until we’ve completed detail. So advanced education is pages 8-3 through 8-5 and we’ll look at the financial summary for this section, this division on page 8-4, Education, Culture and Employment. Ms. Bisaro.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I did make some comments on the opening of the capital budget. I made some comments about education. I am particularly concerned that the Education, Culture and Employment capital plan doesn’t include any projects for the city of Yellowknife. We have a number of schools within the city that were on the plan last year. When we reviewed capital last year, there was some indication that a couple of schools would be on the plan for this year and they are no longer.

When you look at the capital plan, there are really only two major capital projects in the ECE plan this year. One is Diamond Jenness School in Hay River and the other is the two schools in Inuvik. Those

are ongoing capital projects which have been going for a couple of years and they will go on for a couple more years.

But I asked some questions of the Finance Minister and the Minister for Public Works, when they were here during opening comments, about the 10-year education facility plan for Yellowknife. That plan has been in the works for awhile. It was finished, I believe, in May of this year and it was shared with some Members. So I asked the Minister, during opening comments, why the recommendations from that Yellowknife education facility plan were not reflected in the capital budget that we have before us. The answer that I got was that the YK school plan is something we think will be a very valuable document; however, the document was not completed at the time we put our capital budget together.

I would like to ask the Minister of Education why, if this facility plan was done in May and was shared with Members sometime in the spring -- I can’t quite remember when, I think it was in May or early June -- that would seem to be to me quite enough time to get at least one project or at least some indication where these projects will fit in a capital plan into this 2011-12 capital budget.

So having kind of a longwinded way around this, the question to the Minister is: Since we have a facility plan for the educational facilities in Yellowknife, and since we have an Aurora College lease which expires in 2012, why do we not have any indication of the recommendations of this facility plan in this current capital budget? Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Minister.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. This particular plan has been completed in May that deals with the Yellowknife facilities. Part of the reason why it wasn’t, as the Member alluded to, part of this capital planning project that is before us today is that we wanted to consider all options that were before us to consider as we move forward. At that time it was still in the works concerning those options. But now we have those plans in place and this will definitely be part of next year’s capital planning process.

We talk about the facilities in Yellowknife and they have been highlighted. The college that the Member talked about is also part of the package that we are going to discuss for next year’s planning process as well.

We realize the expiry date on the lease is 2012 and time is of the essence right now. So that’s earmarked for next year’s capital plan. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

I appreciate that it will be into the next year’s capital plan, but that’s fiscal year 2012-

13 and if the Aurora College lease expires in 2012, that is going to be a pretty tight squeeze to get any kind of a facility ready for Aurora College in the year 2012 when that’s the capital budget year. But I will leave it at that in terms of the timing.

I am particularly concerned with two schools in Yellowknife: Mildred Hall School and J.H. Sissons School. Mildred Hall has recently had a renovation, but there was a portion of that renovation which did not get done due to a lack of funds, from what I understand. Sissons School is very due for a renovation and an addition. It’s a school that was built in the ‘70s and it’s an open classroom concept. It was on the books a year or so ago and now it is not.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. It sounds like you are onto the next division. We’re sticking with advanced education. Aurora College questions are completely appropriate here, but if we are talking about schools explicitly, that would be the next section. I’ll let you clarify what we are asking about here. Thank you. Ms. Bisaro.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

My apologies, Mr. Chair. I got caught up in the moment. It’s a facility plan for all of Yellowknife, so I will keep my question until later. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. I understand the complexity of this, so let’s complete this section, committee. Any other questions, committee, on advanced education? Mr. Yakeleya.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The capital infrastructure for colleges, under the budget there’s minor capital upgrades to various college facilities. I noticed that in Yellowknife Campus or college, a lot of students from the Sahtu have come to go to school here and also they have used their facility to upgrade or attend some of the courses here. Some of them have vehicles, and parking space is very limited around the college campus. Also, winter is coming and they use their vehicles to go back home and they need proper plug-ins or insulation at this campus. I’m not sure what the process is or if the department can look at this situation. When it gets cold, these vehicles could freeze up and it’s going to cost more for these poor students, who just barely make it on the funding that they have, to look for additional costs to get their vehicles repaired if anything happens in terms of freeze-up. Has this been looked at by this department, minor capital infrastructure for colleges, for plug-ins for parking stalls at the Yellowknife Campus here?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Lafferty.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. This particular discussion that the Member is referring to is small capital projects. They could be

part of the discussions we will continue to have with the college. The college usually identifies minor or major repairs to the facility. We realize that the parking area is of concern for students. So those are discussions we will have with the college. We will be meeting with the college board of governors within a month, I believe. This discussion we’ll be having with them as well. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

I certainly hope the Minister keeps us informed as to the results of their discussions with the board of governors and the college and whether there is going to be any type of small infrastructure dollars go into having a proper parking facility with proper plug-ins for the vehicles. A lot of these vehicles don’t have plug-ins. I’m also speaking from last year’s experience and this year’s experience. This issue has yet to be addressed in a serious manner. I am very cautious as to the Minister’s caution on continued discussions. I’d like to see where there is an implementation plan to put in these proper facilities for our students who are in college and who want to obtain a higher degree to have a very good career for themselves. This is one of the things they need to be concerned about. Sometimes we need to allow our students to focus more on their studies so they can have a good career in life. So this is something I look forward to; the results of his meetings with the appropriate bodies to make this happen.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Yes, this will likely be an item for discussions, because we are planning for next year. I am meeting with the chairs -- that includes Aurora College -- at the end of next month. We are discussing various areas of programming and also capital infrastructure. There are three parking stalls slated for students at the Aurora College. It hasn’t been brought to my attention specifically, but the Member is alluding to that, so we can definitely discuss this area. Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. We have Mr. Ramsay next.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to talk a little bit about a dedicated campus for Aurora College here in Yellowknife. I’m starting to sound like a broken record. Year in and year out Members talk about getting out of the facility we are in here in Yellowknife and getting into a dedicated educational setting, a stand-alone facility here in Yellowknife. That’s something that has to be a goal of the department and the college. That needs to happen sooner rather than later. The lease is coming up in the next couple of years at the current location and I think we should be exploring all options when it comes to getting a dedicated campus facility here in Yellowknife. So, again, I’d like to ask the Minister where exactly in the planning is the dedicated, stand-alone college facility here in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Minister Lafferty.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. This particular piece of work has been an ongoing discussion for a number of years now. It has been brought up in this House as well. As you know, the way things are going with our economy, this could be a $60 million or $70 million infrastructure. We need to start talking about that as part of our capital project for the next few years. We are also talking about potential partners out there that we are exploring options. We’ve been approached about lease-buyback and various options that various organizations have offered. Those are just some of the discussions we are having, Mr. Chair, as we move forward on the options of possibly having a stand-alone infrastructure for the college. At the same time, we’ve offered options to the school boards as well. Those are in the planning stages. We’ve given them an opportunity and now that will be part of next year’s planning process for the capital projects. Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

I thank the Minister for that. When you are looking at potential partners, it’s often been discussed locally and in this House and certain circles around the Territory about the lack of a university north of 60. I think if you are asking the right questions in pursuing the federal government, there may be some dollars there if a university is going to be built north of 60. I’d like to see it built in the Northwest Territories, built here in Yellowknife hopefully.

Obviously it’s going to be a big capital expense. I think 60 or 70 million dollars would be on the low side. If you look at the school in Inuvik, that’s $120 million. So I think it would be something in the magnitude of that type of expense.

We just don’t have those types of capital dollars right now. I guess I’d implore you to seek out the federal government. Start talking university. There’s no reason why we couldn’t have a university here in the Northwest Territories, a degree granting institution -- I think it’s long overdue -- and the research dollars that would go with that. There are options out there and I think we need to, again, look at everything.

The facility needs assessment that was conducted last year, how the college fits into that and whether or not you could have gotten something into this capital plan, I guess that’s a little bit debatable because we did have that and that was a year ago. So I’m a bit disappointed. I think nothing related to the college shows up in this capital plan. But I know it’s a big one and I know you guys are working on it, but again I think there was some time there to come up with a workable plan, a solution, and it’s just not here. That’s just the way it is. So, again, for next year I think we have to be working towards that. The utilization of existing facilities has to be

addressed. We have to get down that road. If that involves a dedicated college campus for Aurora College, that’s something we need to know.

Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I hope to be around next time when it’s discussed again. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. A comment there, but, Mr. Lafferty.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. This particular discussion that we have been having about the university of the North, I have met with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Strahl, when he was still the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Minister at that time, and discussed the possibility of having a university bricks and mortar, but at the same time they want to expand on our existing campuses as opposed to bricks and mortar.

There was a recent announcement from the Prime Minister, or a statement on reintroducing discussion on the university of the North, so we are trying to get more detailed information from that particular statement that was made.

At the same time, I did meet with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Minister’s representative on the university of the North and tried to get more information as to what was said, and we are working closely with Mr. Duncan’s office, John Duncan, the new Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Minister. It is not only us as the Northwest Territories but also Yukon and Nunavut. I am working closely with my colleagues, both Ministers, and the discussion we had the last time we met with Minister Strahl was building on our existing campuses, but now it sounds like the focus has changed and we will be pursuing even further with Mr. Duncan.

I put in a letter to Mr. Duncan and other federal Ministers to meet with them to discuss this further, and I am hoping that we can see some positive outcome out of that. Of course, we want to see that in the Northwest Territories, but that will be a battle I will have with my two colleagues. Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

I would like to see a university north of 60 as well, but, like the Minister said, there is going to be competition for the first university north of 60 with Nunavut and the Yukon. And even though we work closely with both of our friends to the east and to the west, this will be a competition, and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Government of the Northwest Territories has to put their best foot forward if a decision is going to be made and some sizeable dollars to build a university north of 60. We need to, I’d say, get out in front of this and develop a sales pitch and plan to take to the federal government. I don’t think we should be just waiting for them to come to us, I think we should go to them and it

should be a full court press on the federal government showing them the existing infrastructure that we have here in comparison to, let’s say, Whitehorse, and you could include Iqaluit in that.

There are campuses, I believe a dedicated campus in Iqaluit, but there is one in Whitehorse too for their college system. We would have to get in and get a look at what the competition has and make a case for the Northwest Territories being the location of that university. I wish the Minister well and if there is anything that the Regular Members can do to help in those efforts with the federal government, I would like to know that, because we would be more than happy to help. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I totally agree with the Member. We have to tackle it from all angles in all venues where we possibly can. Like I said, I am working with representatives from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs office. One area that we highly stress is scientific research funding through the federal government, so that is in the works and we have shared that information with our federal counterparts.

Just so the Members know, I am also the spokesperson for my colleagues, Nunavut and Yukon, when it comes to talking about the university of the North, so it has been a very productive discussion so far. The next step would be, of course, to meet with the new Minister. Another venue that Members can possibly promote more of this would be NWT Day that we have been talking about. So those are the discussions that we will continue to have with our federal counterparts.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Just in closing, I want to again wish the Minister well with the discussion with the federal government. I think we are a central location, we have geography in our favour, obviously, being in the middle. We have a need, we have a lease expiring on a very expensive piece of real estate that we are currently occupying and the need is there. I think it is up to us to show that we have the need, that we need to get out of a costly situation that we are currently in. We are going to be looking at building a dedicated college campus, so it would only make sense that if we are going to do that, then we should talk to the federal government about getting some capital dollars and making it a degree granting institution and university.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

All I can say is this is an area of high interest for us as a department, especially with a lease that is coming up and due. We have had some discussions with the federal government and will definitely push with our existing current infrastructure right now, the pressing need. Like I say, we will continue with pressing the federal government. Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you Minister Lafferty. Committee, we are on page 8-4, advanced education. Next I have Mr. Yakeleya.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Chairman, I do agree with Mr. Ramsay’s comments in terms of the North needing a university. It seems that we have some pressing issues that we need to put together for the Minister. As Mr. Ramsay indicated, there are some things that we should really take this opportunity to press hard with the federal Minister to look at a university in the Northwest Territories for building our case. I hope that we have the opportunity to make a strong case to the federal government.

The Minister alluded to the NWT Day as something that we could do. I think that the North does need a university now, we are at prime time to have a university and I think with the funding that we do have with our leases, it certainly can go towards a university in the North here. I think the most logical location right now would be in the capital city here. We need to have that discussion with all Members here, as to this opportunity here.

I think, Mr. Minister, you need to let the Minister know that we need a university; bottom line, that is it. Let’s start putting our things together.

I want to ask the Minister, in terms of infrastructure dollars and the opportunities that he may see within his department or within other departments in terms of the Sahtu has been asking for a technology training institution and what type of infrastructure dollars that the Sahtu leadership can tap into if they were to build an institution. Would the department be interested in leasing it off them when looking at facilities? There are some goals and aspirations of the leadership to build a Sahtu institution of technology, so I want to ask the Minister has he an indication as to what type of opportunities are there for the leadership to put together a package to build a Sahtu institute of technology training centre in our region and if it is possible to have some discussions with our leadership on this very specific potential project. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Lafferty.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. Definitely the option is there for the Sahtu leadership to pursue that. We will need some sort of a Sahtu needs assessment as we move forward to next year’s capital planning project. We did already hear bits and pieces of the training centre at the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative while we were in the Sahtu, so it is in our discussions. Definitely if the Sahtu leadership want to push this further, then by all means they have the options to do that as well. But we do need the needs assessment.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Certainly the Minister is correct; he did hear it from the aboriginal chief at the

initiative symposium we had in the Sahtu on our leadership’s wishes. What in the capital infrastructure, capital planning dollars, study dollars, needs to keep the process to look at a planning study or needs assessment that would, you know, you have to do one step at a time to have a university in the North or a Sahtu institution of technology training centre in the Sahtu off and running. What would it take for this Minister to say yes, let’s put this into a five-year capital plan or even a 20-year capital plan?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

We do have regional representatives in each region that can definitely work with the community leadership. If they want to pursue certain projects or capitals in the region, we are in support of that, having our representative there.

We need to start planning for next year. What are the essential needs in the regions and communities? As the Member alluded to, what is the process? The process will be to sit down with the leadership and if it needs the involvement of the school boards, then they are there as well. ECE is represented from the region and my department is willing to work with that as well.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Committee, we’re on page 8-4, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, advanced education, total infrastructure investment summary, $1.387 million. Is committee agreed?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Turn to our next division, education and culture, which ranges from page 8-6 through page 8-8 with the financial summary for this division. Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to ask the Minister, in the area of early childhood development, what the overall plan to address daycare needs is. I’m talking about capital here, physical structures, daycare space essentially. In the two communities that I represent, one community daycare and any of the early child care work that is so central to both communities is in an old trailer. They’re constantly putting money into it. I don’t think the department owns the trailer. I think it’s actually rented from the band. The other community of Lutselk’e has no daycare space at all. They’re in the community hall or I think they’ve tried a couple of other buildings. I just want to know if the department feels they have a responsibility to provide daycare space in the communities. That’s it.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Lafferty.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. When it comes to capital for, let’s say, child care or a daycare, we do not provide capital infrastructure funding but we do provide O and M to

cover the operational costs. We’ve had similar requests in other regions as well, but some other regions have been successful in obtaining some partnerships, whether it be the community First Nation or a corporation that forms a partnership with a certain organization. They’ve come to us to seek funding on the O and M costs. We’ve also geared them towards the federal area as well, because there are different piles of funding and they could possibly access some sort of capital dollars through that venue. With our GNWT, through the ECE department we don’t provide capital for child care or daycare, but we do provide O and M costs.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

I feel that this is a good place for capital for daycares. I think that the students that are starting kindergarten that have gone through daycare and have been in some preschool programs that run usually out of daycares come into the school quite advanced and ready to take on kindergarten when the kindergarten age comes around and they go into the schools and so on. Because of the importance of this to education, if the daycares were to be somehow incorporated into the envelope of the schools in these communities, would the department consider looking at capital costs of providing daycares to the communities?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

The current and existing daycares and child care facilities are run by not-for-profit organizations or private sectors. So we don’t own those buildings. That’s part of the reason why we haven’t gotten into capital projects for that specific area. We’ve made some changes to our programming. It does reflect on some of the mortgage payments. Just thinking or changing our policies to reflect on the cost of operating, we do have some or have made some changes at that level when it comes to O and M and try and be creative and innovative. There have been some changes on the mortgage payment for daycare facilities. That’s the area that we continue to improve on.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

I’m just recognizing what the tangible assets are, I guess, capital assets or something that the GNWT has ownership of. If the GNWT does not have ownership of the daycare buildings, is the department in any sort of position to do infrastructure contributions to the communities to upgrade or build new daycares in the communities?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I don’t have the numbers right now, but we do have a vast variety of child cares and daycares in the Northwest Territories. When it comes to infrastructure, they will fall under that as well. There are quite a few. We’re talking millions, not a couple hundred thousand. I think we need to be very careful on approaching this particular area. We have discussed it in the past, but, like I said, with O and

M we can be somewhat flexible in making those changes.

I understand where the Member is coming from and I need to work with that with possibly through the O and M, what else can we improve on so we can strengthen or provide more of the improved programming dollars or O and M dollars to the facilities that the Member is alluding to. I’ll leave it at that. O and M is definitely an area that we can look at for improvements.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Just shifting gears for a minute; high school career and technology studies. I was wondering if there’s a plan to put high school career and technology studies into all high schools.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. I’m assuming that’s restricted to the capital aspects of it as well. Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Sorry, Mr. Chairman. All schools that have high school students. That’s what I meant. Just to clarify.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

The way the process works is that usually the school boards provide us applications on their needs. If CTS is required, or for upgrade, then there is funding available for that. I believe it’s upwards of $400,000. Those are numbers that we work with. It’s all based on the application from the school boards on their needs.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

That’s good. I know the CTS is going to be opening a shop, I think, after so many years of having a shop in Fort Resolution. Deninu School closed and we’re having an opening in November. Also, I guess because I’m aware that my concern has been trying to find space and include some sort of a career technology studies for the high school students in Lutselk’e. With the information that the Minister has provided me, I will contact the schools and proceed that way.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Next we have the long-delayed question from Ms. Bisaro.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ll try not to do such a long preamble since I kind of did it once already. I’m referencing a couple of schools in Yellowknife, particularly Mildred Hall School and J.H. Sissons School. Mildred Hall has fairly recently had a renovation but it wasn’t all completed. Sissons is long overdue. Well, I shouldn’t say overdue, but certainly due for a renovation, and I believe it was a priority on the department’s list for renovations as much as six or eight months ago. I’m dismayed to see that neither of these two schools have any... There are no plans in the capital budget for either of these schools and no plans in future years either. I’d like to know from the Minister where both of these projects are. How urgent is J.H. Sissons School renovation and

addition, and where on the timeline is the finishing of Mildred Hall School?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Lafferty.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. For J.H. Sissons School there was a request that’s been brought forward on Public Works and Services to complete an updated 2002 technical status evaluation. This review was completed in September 2010. Although the building does require renovation, there are no immediate health or safety issues identified at this time. This could be part of next year’s capital plan as we move forward. That’s part of the reason why it wasn’t part of this, along with other pressing urgencies of other projects. I’ll get Mr. Daniels to address Mildred Hall and maybe if he wants to elaborate more on J.H. Sissons as well.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Daniels.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Daniels

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The overall Yellowknife facility needs are things that we’ve been examining here in the past year. With the changing enrolments that we’ve seen in the schools, we’re looking at a variety of options of how to move forward with addressing not only the needs for the Yellowknife schools, including Sissons and other schools in Yellowknife, but also the college. There are a couple of things, as the Member has indicated, where there were some renovations that were not included in the latest upgrade to Mildred Hall. Again, that’s something that we could look at in terms of bringing forward in our future capital planning process to further work on the options for the Yellowknife facilities plan. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Mr. Chairman, I will talk about Mildred Hall first. I appreciate and I am thankful to hear that Mildred Hall is going to be considered at some point in time. I look at the capital needs assessment that we received a little while ago and note that there is no money indicated for Mildred Hall until the fiscal year 2013-14, which is a fairly long time down the road. I would hope that the finishing of those renovations is going to be before that.

With regards to Sissons, the Minister mentioned a technical study was just recently completed and did an analysis of one of the things he mentioned was safety of the facility. I guess there is no urgent need to do renovations at that school, because I think the Yellowknife Public School Board has done an extremely good job of keeping up on the various schools and their system. They do an excellent job of maintenance and upkeep of the schools.

I need to reference the safety issue. All schools in the NWT now have a lockdown procedure in case of any kind of an emergency. Sissons, due to its open school concept, is unable to be put into a

lockdown situation. Certainly Mr. Abernethy has expressed this before and I would agree with him, that then creates, in my mind, a safety issue for the students and the staff of J.H. Sissons School. If there ever was an incident within that school where a lockdown is required, they cannot be put into a safe situation. Where is the issue of an inability to do a lockdown in a school? Where does that sit on the list of safety issues and the list of priority issues for a building? Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Daniels.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Daniels

Mr. Chairman, the safety issues, of course, are of primary concern to everyone involved with school projects. We will be undertaking some discussions with YK1 with how we might be able to address some of these safety issues even though we don’t have the item in the proposed capital plan. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate that it is going to be discussed with YK1, but I really don’t understand how solving the issue of a lockdown can be accomplished when you have no doors on classrooms. It really, to me, is not a safety issue that can be accommodated. If it is a bomb issue, you could move the kids out of the school, but if it is an issue of a gunman in the school, you can’t move them out. It is a safety issue.

I guess I just want to stress to the Minister and to the department that Sissons should be higher on the priority list than it seems to be. I would certainly hope to see it in next year’s capital plan. There is the beginning of planning study money for studies, et cetera, and that we do have this particular project on the books next year. That is all I have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Committee, we are on page 8-7, education and culture. Mr. Jacobson.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just in regard to the capital plan for Mangilaluk School in Tuk, we have planning monies ahead for this coming year. I am just wondering -- I guess it was two years ago now in the House when we put Tuk on the five-year capital plan -- why is it not showing in the capital plan under renovation and why is it showing as a study? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Mr. Daniels.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Daniels

Mr. Chairman, we have done some further work through a consultant who worked with the school and divisional education council to complete an education report on the school, how the space could be used and how we can make improvements. As a result of that work, we have identified funding through a planning study to undertake some potential renovations to the school

to make the improvements that are needed. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Just in regard to that comment that Mr. Daniels made, the capital plan for Mangilaluk School, Mr. Chairman, there is no shop, proper home economics room, storage office space. There are teachers crammed up probably 60 inches in a tiny little room that they are trying to do their papers and whatever they have to for their planning day for the students. Again, there is one washroom that they share out of 20 people. That is just not right. Ms. Bisaro said in regards to safety; I would say that is dirty. With that being said, on the capital plan, I know it is in there, allotted as a study. We have enough studies that have been going on. The small communities need this for our students. We are tired of waiting. Somebody, YK1 wants something. They are ready to say, okay, we will get the materials that are needed. Why aren’t they doing this for the communities as well?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Minister Lafferty.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Chairman, the thing we are doing at $140,000 has been identified to do a study plan, because what we have identified here with the consultant was they did their report and the report identified related renovations to an existing building, a high school entrance, an addition to a stand free shop facility and provision for cold storage. We need to do more planning study within the school. I know the Member has raised this issue in the House. We want to have a solid case that we can bring forward as part of our capital plan projects for next year. That is our overall plan. That is part of the reason I want to do this study, so we have a complete package, Mr. Chair. Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Mr. Chairman, if the Minister is telling me he wants a complete package, I will wait the extra year before it could get on the five-year capital plan. If we could get that proper shop, home economics room, bathroom, storage office space for all the staff and not just the two items that he said, we will wait for that. But something has to be put on paper before, you know as well as I do, anything gets done. I think that we are in a position now to make a difference in the communities. We have a chance with the Minister and the department to make a difference and providing a small, remote community with a proper school for the students from K to 12. I look forward to meeting with the Minister and his staff to make a go of this.

Moving on to my high school teacher in Sachs Harbour, is it possible... I know the Minister will always say it is Beaufort-Delta education that is going to do it. He always refers me to them. The Premier is going to give me the funding to provide that service out by Sachs Harbour. At the end of the day, I know the same thing was the school in Sachs

should be looked at for renovation as well. It is a small little school. The high school should be brought up an extra classroom or two to provide K to 12 in the community of Sachs, because we are having so many issues in regard to schooling and sending our kids out into Inuvik for the school. I know we have to fill up the super school next year, so we don’t want to take the outlying communities’ kids to do that. But if we could put on paper again, if we could make a bunch of renovations for Sachs Harbour. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Chairman, if Sachs needs some sort of renovation, then items should be also discussed if we want to add that as a capital project for next year or the following year. We know that the Tuk school is up for the planning study. We wanted to identify funding because this has been addressed in the House. So it is in the works, Mr. Chair, and we want to make some changes as well; as the Member indicated, a proper school. We definitely want to have that and, of course, we want to have our community members attend school in the community. That’s the overall goal, so we will continue to strive for that excellence.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. We are on page 8-7, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary. Mr. Yakeleya.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Chair, I want to ask the Minister, in terms of his method of ensuring that some of the small communities are receiving some of the facilities that they need, in terms of career, in terms of, they call them shops, I think -- industrial arts when I was in high school -- in terms of those types of facilities. Certainly, I know that the education boards have to put together some good proposals to acquire an extra teacher just to have a shop program skills trades into the schools. I want to ask the Minister, in terms of the Sahtu schools, in terms of the facilities that are like that in our schools to promote the skills of trades for our grade 10, 11 and 12 students. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Minister Lafferty.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

We’ve been to a number of small, isolated community schools and we’ve identified some needs in the schools. We’ve been to the Sahtu and Colville. We’ve toured a school as well, a small school. So there is a need for some upgrades that have been identified by the principal and the school boards.

This is the type of discussion that we continue to have at the chairs meeting that’s slated for the end of next month. Most of the discussion that the Member is alluding to is also being addressed at that level. The CTS is an area that we continue to improve into the schools, based on application from the school boards.

As I stated, we do have $400,000 that’s slated for the schools to either upgrade their facility of CTS or have the establishment of CTS into their schools. We will continue to improve in those areas. If we identify additional funding, if we can find additional funding to increase the $400,000, we will definitely work towards that. Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Certainly, Mr. Chair, these funds are application-based in the school. I want to ask, in terms of the application, when there’s these small communities that have activities that are in their region or in and around their communities, that certainly where there’s much needed skill to be learned there. Is this how this works in terms of the funding application?

I know that at one time the schools in a southern area were building housing units for some of the elderly people and these grade 10, 11, 12 students earned credits on the courses they had to take. Right now, what I’m finding out is that our schools in our region in the Sahtu are scrambling and finding it hard to get initial dollars to hire a qualified instructor to come in and teach these skills. We may have the facility but they need the dollars to have somebody on deck to work with the kids there.

Again, it’s good to have these facilities. It’s nice to have them up and running, but you need the bodies in there to make it happen there. I want to ask the Minister, in terms of the application basis, in terms of the smaller, isolated, remote communities, what chances do they have in terms of making sure that they are not left out of this process here.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Chair, the quickest answer would be they have all the chances if the school board identifies them as a priority. Again, it’s the school board that makes the decision, because they are the expertise when it comes to the schools in their region. We can’t go into a community and say this is what you should have. Most of our discussion is from the school board level, from the community level. They provide us guidance and advice and we base it on that with our capital infrastructure and others, along with the Members providing us some suggestions. But it does come from the school board, because they provide that expertise as well.

I have just been informed that there’s a departmental committee that reviews these proposals as well. So we’re working closely with the communities, the superintendents, the board chairs to identify those needs and priorities of the communities. Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

The community does… I won’t get into it because it would take it to another debate; however, I thank the Minister for informing us and hopefully the communities that I represent have a fair chance of looking at some of this funding in its applications.

There are needs other than what we’re talking about within our schools and sometimes you have to decide which ones you want and it’s a priority and there are a lot of things that go on between. However, I look forward to having these facilities in our small communities where our kids can also take pride in going to school and staying in school to get a good career out of their education.

I want to ask in terms of the capital infrastructure of the community museums and the uptake for that type of funding. I know the Norman Wells Historical Society has been one of the successful stories within the GNWT and the community museum, and I know they want to look at some expansion because that little museum now is overgrown in terms of its capacity. Is this the type of dollars they can apply for in terms of capital infrastructure to expand their facility in Norman Wells? Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Chair, yes, the museum area is based on an application basis. So the quickest answer would be yes. Mahsi.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. We’re on page 8-7, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, education and culture, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure summary, $27.132 million.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

We will now go back to the departmental summary on page 8-2. Education, Culture and Employment, department summary, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $28.519 million.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Does committee agree that this concludes the Department of Education, Culture and Employment infrastructure?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, committee. I would like to thank the Minister of ECE and Mr. Daniels and ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort the witness from the Chamber. What is the wish of the committee? If I can call on Mrs. Groenewegen.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

I will now rise and report progress.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Can I have the report of Committee of the Whole, Mr. Bromley.

Report of Committee of the Whole
Report of Committee of the Whole

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Tabled Document 66-16(5), NWT Capital Estimates 2011-2012, and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Mahsi.

Report of Committee of the Whole
Report of Committee of the Whole

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. A motion is on the floor. Do you have a seconder? The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

---Carried

Item 22, third reading of bills. Mr. Clerk, orders of the day.

Orders of the Day
Orders of the Day

Tim Mercer Clerk Of The House

Mr. Speaker, there will be a meeting of the Board of Management today at the rise of the House.

Orders of the day for Wednesday, October 20, 2010, at 1:30 p.m.:

1. Prayer

2. Ministers’

Statements

3. Members’

Statements

4. Returns to Oral Questions

5. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

6. Acknowledgements

7. Oral

Questions

8. Written

Questions

9. Returns to Written Questions

10. Replies to Opening Address

11. Petitions

12. Reports of Standing and Special Committees

13. Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills

14. Tabling of Documents

15. Notices of Motion

16. Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills

17. Motions

- Motion 15-16(5), Appointment of Two Human Rights Commission Members

- Motion 16-16(5), Appointment of Information and Privacy Commissioner

- Motion 17-16(5), Referral of TD 75-16(5) to Committee of the Whole

18. First Reading of Bills

19. Second Reading of Bills

20. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of

Bills and Other Matters

- Tabled Document 4-16(5), Executive Summary of the Report of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project

- Tabled Document 30-16(5), 2010 Review of Members’ Compensation and Benefits

- Tabled Document 38-16(5), Supplementary Health Benefits - What We Heard

- Tabled Document 62-16(5), Northern Voices, Northern Waters: NWT Water Stewardship Strategy

- Tabled Document 66-16(5), NWT Capital Estimates 2011-2012

- Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act

- Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act

- Bill 9, An Act to Amend the Tourism Act

21. Report of Committee of the Whole

22. Third Reading of Bills

23. Orders of the Day

Orders of the Day
Orders of the Day

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until Wednesday, October 20, 2010, at 1:30 p.m.

---ADJOURNMENT

The House adjourned at 5:28 p.m.